Rainbow Central Complete Series

Chapter 7

Jo

JoFull and satisfied from the pancakes, Ellie and I returned to my room, high on sugar and giggling about nothing in particular.

She dumped all the kitchen things next to the door and fell down on my couch, sighing happily. “I’m so full.”

so“Me too,” I replied as I sat down next to her. “I really shouldn’t have eaten that last pancake.” I poked my stomach, wincing at how much of my finger disappeared into the fat. “You’re going to have to roll me out of here.”

“Please, you’re over exaggerating.”

“I’m not. Look at me!” I prodded myself, grossed out by how pudgy I looked.

Ellie rolled her eyes at me. “I think you look good.”

“Oh, come on—” Her words sunk in and I sat up a little straighter as my traitorous heart fluttered with hope. “You do?”

“Yes, you’re super cute and your body is fine. Stop worrying.”

I gulped, my ears burning up from her compliments. “Really?”

She looked me up and down and hummed appreciatively. “Yes, you’re beautiful.” Before I could return the compliment, she checked her phone and groaned. “Oh, look at the time. I should get going, I’ve got an early class.”

“It’s only eight?”

“Yes, but I still have to shower and my early class is on the other side of town. I’ll have to get up at six.”

“Ewww. That’s so early.”

“I know.” Ellie rose from the couch and I watched her gather all her things. She moved swiftly and elegantly through the small room, avoiding all the furniture with ease.

My bruised knees were jealous of her spatial awareness.

Ellie finished grabbing all her things and I walked her to the door, not sure why I was feeling a little strange. I’d just had an amazing time hanging with my best friend so there was no reason why I should feel… confused?

I kissed Ellie on the cheek to say goodbye and caught a whiff of her perfume. The usually floral smell was mixed with the sweet aroma of pancakes and vanilla.

As I inhaled a little deeper than I should, I was struck with a worrisome thought. It wasn’t normal that I loved my best friend’s smell so much. A whole lot of things I thought weren’t normal for best friends at all. Crap…

I thought back to the evening, wondering what would’ve happened if that person had seen us. If they had, how would they have defined our relationship? Would they have thought we were together, like Reggie?

I returned to my room, not sure what I was doing thinking these things about Ellie. I fell down on the couch and groaned into one of the yellow pillows. Usually if I felt frustrated or confused, I’d talk to my best friend about it but how could I talk to Ellie about… Ellie?

What was I going to do? Did I like like her?

likeNo, I couldn’t be into my best friend. Everyone knew that was a recipe for disaster, regardless of what gender said best friend was.

I stared up at my ceiling, not sure what to make of all this. Was I attracted to women in general? Or just my best friend? Did I have to tell her?

My head was swimming with all kinds of questions that I knew the internet wouldn’t be able to answer. In fact, there was only one way to really figure this out.

I reached for my phone and shot Reggie a quick text. My phone buzzed mere minutes later with a reply and I smiled. Looked like I was going out for a party.

I stared at the mirror, studying my reflection. Was the lipstick too much? I never wore a lot of make-up but I wanted to look nice. Special. More than just plain old Jo, but as someone that had potential. Someone new, someone exciting. Someone that people could imagine as their lover.

“Hi, I’m Jo,” I said, watching myself speak. “Hello. Jo. What’s your name?”

My reflection mockingly looked back at my pathetic attempts of seeming cool and casual. What was wrong with me? Why was I so nervous? It wasn’t like this was the first time that I met new people.

Although usually, Ellie was around.

This was one of the first and few times I was going to meet strangers without her. But this was good for me. I needed to do this, even if it was just to confirm that it wasn’t for me.

My phone buzzed on the sink and a message from Reggie popped up on my screen.

I shot a quick text back and grabbed a tissue to wipe the lipstick off. It was too much and just not like me… A quick spray of perfume and another brush through my short hair later, I hurried out of my dorm to find Reggie waiting outside.

She did an appreciative double take and smiled. “You look nice.”

“Thank you. So do you.”

She chuckled. “I like your lipstick.”

I must have not managed to wipe it all off but her compliment made me feel better about it. “Thanks. So where are we going?”

“Rainbow Central, it’s the club where Platypus meets. It’s only a ten-minute walk from here.”

“I thought you said it was an unofficial meet.”

“It is. On official nights, there’s often a theme or a specific event. This will just be casual drinking, dancing, and getting to know people.”

“My best friend said it’s just a bunch of people hooking up.”

She laughed. “Isn’t that what every student club, fraternity, and sorority is about? Come on, it’s college. Everyone’s hooking up with everyone, doesn’t mean you have to.”

She made a good point.

The short walk to the bar helped cool some of my worries and by the time we got there, I was mostly excited.

We paused in front of Rainbow Central and to my surprise, it looked just like every other bar in the street. I would never have known it was an LGBT place except for the little rainbow flag in the window.

A handful of people were gathered out front, smoking, chatting, laughing. Reggie waved and all of them waved back, excited to see her.

“Reggie! Glad you could make it!” a girl shrieked as she broke away from the group. They hugged each other and exchanged cheek kisses in a warm welcome.

The girl released my classmate and turned her attention to me. “You brought a friend?”

“Yeah. Everyone, this is Jo. Jo, this is everyone.”

Awkwardly, I waved at the group, not sure if I was supposed to introduce myself or explain my presence. Would they ask me questions about my sexuality? Would they just assume I was into women because I was here? Would they judge me if I said I didn’t know?

A tall guy with eyeliner shot me a warm smile. “Hey, hey! I’m Jon or as they call me, Gay J. Welcome, welcome.”

“Gay J?” I repeated, not sure if I heard him right.

He tipped his imaginary hat. “That’s me. I like your jacket.”

“Thank you. I like your eyeliner.”

My compliment elicited a big smile from him and he practically squealed. “Thank you. So you’re a friend of Reggie’s?”

“Yes, we’re in the same class. We’re painters.”

“How fabulous. I love art. My husband and I own a gallery together. John & Jon Art, it’s near the train station.”

love“No way. You own John & Jon Art? That’s one of my favourite galleries. I loved this summer’s exhibition, I actually visited it with my best friend.”

He clapped his hands. “Aww, thank you, sweets. That’s so nice of you to say.”

“It’s fairly new, isn’t it?” I asked, already feeling a lot more at ease.

“It is. We opened it three years ago… No, two years. No, three. It’s always been John’s dream.”

“That’s so cute.” I hesitated, not sure if I wanted to dive into the deep end yet but if there was ever a place where I could ask these things, this was it. “So you and your husband have the same name? Does that not get confusing?”

He laughed. “All. The. Damn. Time.”

“It’s so cute though. How did you two meet? If you don’t mind me asking.”

“Aww, thank you. And of course not, I love talking about John John and me. We actually met in high school and I was always “the feminine” one, as you can imagine,” he said, gesturing to his fabulous self. “We were the best of friends, inseparable, joined at the hip. Since I was out and proud, everyone would call me Gay Jon or Gay J and that just kind of stuck, even when we got together. It’s been like… Gosh, fifteen years now. Isn’t that crazy?”

I chuckled. “That’s amazing. So you two were friends before?”

“Oh, yes. We were always together, did everything together. People thought we were a couple before we were. I guess they could see something we couldn’t.”

The door to Rainbow Central swung open and a small group of festive people poured out, joining the group.

“Speak of the devil,” Gay J grinned, pulling a guy with some scruff in jeans to him. He pressed a kiss on the other man’s lips and the two lovingly gazed at each other, lost in their own bubble for a bit.

Not wanting to disturb them, I turned to the people on my other side, hoping to join in on the conversation. Reggie was chatting intimately with a darker girl with short hair and not wanting to bother her either, I awkwardly waved at some of the other people.

“Hi… I’m Jo. I’m new.”

Two girls stopped their conversation and turned in my direction. The taller of the two held out her hand and pulled me in with a dazzling smile, almost suffocating me with her sizable bosom.

She caught me in an intense gaze, her smile only adding to her welcoming demeanour. “Hello, gorgeous. Welcome to the club.”

I blushed, not sure how to reply to that. I wasn’t used to girls flirting with me. Then again, it wasn’t like I had that much experience with boys either.

“You are all in Platypus too?” I inquired.

“Yes, we are. I’m Bab, I’m the Recruit Manager. Are you interested in signing up?”

“Oh, no, no, I’m just here with a friend,” I quickly replied, gesturing to the direction I saw Reggie in last. “I’m not… you know.”

The other girl chuckled. “Gay?”

“Yeah, that.”

“Are you a new student?”

I nodded, looking at the blonde girl.

She smiled. “Then you have plenty of time to figure things out. Hey, I’m Harper. I’m the treasurer. You know, allies are welcome too.”

“Allies?”

She took a sip from a colourful cocktail and nodded. “Yes, anyone that’s tolerant and wants to celebrate diversity. Everyone’s welcome. There’s a party this weekend, it’s going to be really fun. You should consider coming.”

“Isn’t that the same night of the Plaza party?”

“Yes, that’s the one! A bunch of us are meeting up beforehand and going together. You’re welcome to join.”

“Thanks, but I think I’ll see you there.”

“Sounds good too!”

Someone called her name and with a wave, she joined whoever was asking for her attention, giving me a moment to myself. I hadn’t even entered Rainbow Central and I’d already met a whole bunch of people, each more friendly than the other.

Approaching existing groups always scared me. Most of them always closed ranks when new people tried to join in and made it awkward and hard to form a connection. But not here. Everyone was open, welcoming, clearly looking to meet new people. It was… strange. Strangely great, actually.